A Coming-Out Party (1961)

VERY IMPORTANT PERSON

(USA: Coming-Out Party)

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

Internees at a German POW camp plot the escape of a high-ranking British scientist (James Robertson Justice) who has fallen into enemy hands.

Entertaining mixture of comedy and drama, directed with cut-throat efficiency by Ken Annakin (later responsible for blockbusters like BATTLE OF THE BULGE and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG), and headlined by some of the most popular names in contemporary British cinema, including Leslie Phillips and Jeremy Lloyd as upper-class comic relief, and Stanley Baxter playing dual roles as a temperamental Scottish prisoner and an unpleasant Nazi officer (when the German calls him a 'British swine', Baxter retorts with haughty pride: "SCOTTISH swine!"). Robertson is at his most gruff and lovable here, initially appalled by the company he's forced to keep in the POW camp, then quietly appreciative of the lengths these 'idiots' will go to secure his safety. The tone is pretty low-key, which means the film isn't always as funny or as suspenseful as it could have been, but it's a hugely enjoyable treat nonetheless. Eric Sykes, Richard Wattis and John Le Mesurier are featured in supporting roles.